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The problem with tube based audio is that it has so often been hijacked by people for whom the bragging rights of having a tube amplifier outweigh the benefits, or the sheer fun of building the thing. [Bettina Neumryr] makes a speciality of building projects featured in old electronics magazines, and her latest, a tube amplifier from 1955, is a fantastic antidote to the gold-plated silliness of audiophile tube amplifiers.

Design wise it’s relatively straightforward, with a preamplifier before a two-tube transformerless splitter circuit driving a push-pull output. She dives into the circuit a little, noting its feedback circuit to the cathode of the first splitter tube. There’s an accompanying power supply, a classic tube rectifier design that incorporates a hefty low-pass filter with a giant choke.

We particularly like her choice of chassis — while it’s possible to pay silly money for a tube chassis in 2026 she’s taken a much more down to earth approach with a pair of baking trays.…